British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

The Gasoline Thieves (Huachicolero)

Synopsis

Living with his mother and working as a farmhand in his hometown, fourteen-year-old Lalo sees buying a smartphone for his high-school crush the only surefire way into her heart. When his mother is forced to use his savings in order to pay for medical bills, Lalo decides to approach the local huachicoleros for help, who quickly enlist his aid in their business of illegally siphoning gas in order to take advantage of the country's shortage and re-sell on the black market. As Lalo naively becomes more involved with the huachicoleros' work, an uneasy air of violence begins to overtake the world around him, while investigators narrow their search for those responsible.
Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2019 - International Narrative Competition - World premiere
Winner: Best New Narrative Director Award - Tribeca Film Festival 2019

Details

Year
2019
Type of project
Features
Running time
93 mins
Director
Edgar Nito
Producer
Victor Leycegui, Annick Mahnert, Joshua Sobel
Executive Producer
Bob Portal, Inderpal Singh, Sonia Lowe
Editor
Sam Baixauli
Screenwriter
Alfredo Mendoza, Edgar Nito
Director of Photography
Juan Pablo Ramírez
Composer
Carlo Ayhllón
Principal cast
Eduardo Banda, Pedro Joaquin, Regina Reynoso, Fernando Becerril, Pascacio López, Leonardo Alonso

Categories

Fiction

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Mexico, Spain, UK, US co-production

AMP International (UK), Pirotecnia Films (MX), Screen Division (FR)

AMP International

Timo Suomi
18 Finsbury Square
London
EC2A 1AH

Sales Company

AMP International

Timo Suomi
Studio 01zero-one
Hopkins Street
London
W1F 0HS

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

No Women No Children No Women No Children

Director: Akporé Uzoh

Year: 2026

The aftermath of a sexual assault (rape). Exploring the deep-felt consequences for all involved. At its heart an epic story of a couple's fight for the survival of their love.

Black Drama
Elegy for the Lost Elegy for the Lost

Director: William Hong-xiao Wei

Year: 2025

Through the psychoanalytic and introspective voiceover of a young post-pandemic Chinese migrant in Europe, the film interweaves her private memories of intimacy with public narratives of resistance. As her reflections unfold, she and her community navigate secrecy, repression, survival, looming precarity, and displacement, all while confronting the personal cost of existing in a world that demands their silence.

Asian Docufiction Experimental LGBTQIA+ Scottish
Moonman 158 Moonman 158

Director: Tom Young

Year: 2025

Markus, a young man adrift after his father’s death, finds purpose in an underground graffiti partnership with his friend Sean. Their bold, politically charged street art goes viral, drawing the attention of the media, the police, and a calculating art dealer who sees profit in their rebellion. As their fame grows, so does the tension between integrity and exploitation, authenticity and corruption.

Crime / Mystery Drama